Zanobard Reviews

Happy Holidays one and all! With 2025 drawing to a close, it is indeed that time of year once again; time for another much thought over and debated Best Scores list, where we discuss each of the top film scores of the year! This year’s been quite a whopper.

Before we begin, as usual I will just say that it this list just a bit of fun, being just my humble opinion – if you disagree or have your own best of lists for the year please do share them below, I’d love to compare and contrast! Anyway, without further ado – let’s kick off this year’s Best Scores list with an Honourable Mention:

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
By Lorien Testard

This was sadly one that I didn’t get around to reviewing this year, but keep an eye out for it in 2026 because what a score it is. The big strength of Testard’s music here is the frankly gorgeous orchestral and vocal style (the latter provided by vocalist Alice Duport-Percier) as it leads a variety of memorable themes and cements this sublimely French-styled musical tone that leaps, twirls and indeed punches its way through thunderous battle highs and gently atmospheric lows throughout this enjoyably lengthy album. The main theme (“Alicia”) is a beautifully serene piece, sounding almost operatic as Duport-Percier’s graceful vocals elevate it tremendously all across the score, and that combined with a solid amount of varied game location setpieces (“Lumière”), utterly phenomenal bossfighting cues (“Une vie à peindre”, “Une vie à t’aimer”) and standout theme tracks (“Renoir”, “Gustave”) cements Expedition 33 solidly for me as one of the very best scores of this year.

10. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
By Max Aruj & Alfie Godfrey

First up on this year’s Best Film Scores list is Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey’s score for the final Mission Impossible – and being the very last entry, it’s a pretty damned emotional one. Stylistically, it’s similar to Lorne Balfe’s work for Fallout and Dead Reckoning Part One (with bongos of course galore) and Lalo Schifrin’s iconic M:I and “The Plot” themes naturally too return, this time in ever-determined and intensely dramatic form, making for some thunderous action setpieces – “Martial Law” and “This Is My Mission” to name a compelling couple – and indeed some unusually downbeat and emotional moments – “The Light We Cannot See” plays Schifrin’s M:I theme in as solemnly final a rendition as possible, for example – with an impending tonal sense of dramatic finality throughout the soundtrack that’s not present in the other entries. Standout Cue “The Entity’s Future” is also just fantastic in its pure unleashed rendition of the main theme on grandiose orchestra, and all-in the highlights of this particularly intense final M:I score make it more than worthy of the Top Ten.

9. How To Train Your Dragon (2025)
By John Powell

John Powell’s new How To Train Your Dragon feels like a modernised and indeed revitalised remake of his iconic original 2010 work, with a few new musical cherries on top too. The composer’s amazing themes from the original film – the flying, love and Berk themes to name an amazing few – return in glorious form, and the orchestration has a crisp, refined sound that just feels so rich as a result. Take “Test Driving Toothless” as a good example, the absolute power of the flying theme as it genuinely soars all across this fantastic track is truly something to behold, and that’s only the beginning. All across this wonderful score is a gorgeously upbeat orchestral sound, with “We Have Dragons”, “A Romantic Flight” and “This Is Real Berk” being exquisite highlights alongside the above iconic flying track, and the Standout Cue award goes to the happily lengthy “..and finally, the End Credits Suite” as an incredible suite-length bonus piece, one of the few things we didn’t get on the original album at all. All-in, remakes have been described as soulless before but this one is anything but, and that combined with all the highlights above make it very much worthy of this year’s Best Scores.

8. The Running Man (2025)
By Steven Price

The kickass main theme for Ben Richards (“The Running Man”) leads an endlessly propulsive charge all across Steven Price’s score for The Running Man, continually pursued by a whistling Western-esque motif for Evan McCone and the Hunters (“This Game Is No Game”), as well as a thunderously boppy piece for Bobby Thompson and the Running Man show itself (“Introducing Bobby”). These themes are this score’s natural strength, leaping and battling through a number of intensely orchestral and electronic action sequences, and while the chase doesn’t let up until the end, the score keeps you constantly entertained throughout. Price also nails a very apt compositional style & tone for the gritty, oppressive police state setting of the story (and the contrasting upbeatness of the titular in-film show) and so that combined with the utter strength of the aforementioned main themes easily wins The Running Man a spot on this year’s Best Scores list.

7. Wicked: For Good
By Stephen Schwartz & John Powell

Stephen Schwartz and John Powell’s Wicked: For Good is a wonderful sequel soundtrack to 2024’s Wicked, continuing the stylistic and thematic legacy of both that film – in Powell’s lovely themes – and the original musical, as many a notational reference toward Schwartz’s various iconic songs naturally occur. In leading positions among the latter are “No One Mourns The Wicked” and “Defying Gravity”, with “For Good” also making prominent appearances throughout, and the former’s biggest strength is Powell’s brand new brassy superheroic theme for Glinda, showcased through one of several Standout Cues “The Rise Of Glinda”. Overall, all the above together with a soaring and utterly gorgeous orchestral style showcased throughout the album – with the absolute highlight of that being the conclusive “Wicked For Good Suite” – makes this score an absolute joy to listen to, and one well worthy of this year’s Top Ten.

6. Frankenstein
By Alexandre Desplat

One of two Alexandre Desplat film scores to grace this year’s list, Frankenstein earns its place by being elegant, gothic and deeply emotional, making it both pretty perfectly fitting for the iconic titular story and an utterly gorgeous soundtrack to boot. Much like with Jurassic World Rebirth, it’s strength lies in its meticulous orchestrations, with highlights including the rapidly paced dark action sequence “The Tower”, the sublimely serene “Eternity” and the ferociously determined “Fire”. Desplat also crafted a series of exquisite themes to tell the musical story here, with the primary one for Victor Frankenstein himself (“Frankenstein”) leading a wary charge opposite a moodily morose motif for the Creature (“Creature’s Tale”) and a beautifully ethereal love/family theme too (“Awakening”), all of which combined with the composer’s intricate style – and Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing’s string work – makes this album certainly worthy of the list.

5. Jurassic World Rebirth
By Alexandre Desplat

Alexandre Desplat’s score for Jurassic World Rebirth is a phenomenal effort. The composer’s intricate compositional style is the absolute star of the show, with the instruments all intricately weaved together in seemingly effortless fashion and resulting in some truly gorgeous cues that not only keenly evoke John Williams’ sound for the original Jurassic Park, but are also pretty damned impeccable in their own right. Highlights include frenetic, brass-focused action setpieces like “Boat Chase” and “Bella And The Beast” as well as the slower, more tender or moodier moments like “Zora And Loomis” or “Opening Lab”. Playing centrally through these and all across the album too are the score’s memorable themes, both Desplat’s own and of course many a reference to Williams’ iconic originals – the aggressive Mosasaur motif in “Mosasaur Attacks Yacht” or the adventurous theme for the human protagonists (“Crossing The Path/T-Rex”) are some of the highlights for Desplat himself, and look no further than “Sailing Away” for an utterly spectacular take on Williams. All-in, it’s no wonder Rebirth gets a seat at the Top 10 table; from all the above, it utterly deserves it.

4. Predator: Badlands
By Sarah Schachner & Benjamin Wallfisch

What earns Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch’s Predator: Badlands a place on this year’s Top Ten is its unapologetically and indeed thunderously different compositional style; an impeccable combination of deep, intensely gutteral and utterly alien-sounding vocals grunting out the Yautja language alongside enthusiastically deafening frenetic drums, brass and cello, with the overall result being absolutely phenomenal in representing both the titular Predators and their culture in music. While it is a bit of a shame that Alan Silvestri’s iconic themes for the title franchise do not return, the aforementioned unique style combined with a few grandly dramatic new themes – such as the one for Dek, the film’s Yautja protagonist (“Dek Of The Yautja”) or Thia, his Weyland-Yutani synthetic accomplice (“Thia”) – do an excellent job in keeping enjoyability determinedly high throughout, making for several absolutely killer action setpieces (“Last Chance”, “Prey To None”) and a score overall that never relents in its sheer, intensely dramatic power. Love those Yautja vocals!

3. F1
By Hans Zimmer

In third place on this year’s Top Ten is Hans Zimmer’s F1, a high-octane and propulsively techno/house-infused orchestral soundtrack which dazzles with a superbly catchy main theme that you’ll be humming even after one listen (see Standout Cue “F1”) and a thunderously upbeat compositional style that takes some solid influence from Zimmer’s prior dabbles in the racing genre. The ever-optimistic electronics of Days Of Thunder and the sheer orchestral grandiosity of Rush are continually present throughout the music here, with the aforementioned memorable main theme weaving at a tremendous pace through several increasingly triumphant action setpieces – “Run For The Podium”, “Drive Fast” and “Three Laps Is A Lifetime” to name a tremendously fast-paced trio – to make a racing soundtrack overall that’s unapologetically entertaining throughout, and more than worthy of this year’s list.

2. Avatar: Fire And Ash
By Simon Franglen

Simon Franglen’s Avatar: Fire And Ash is a tremendous sequel soundtrack to not only the first film – scored by the late great James Horner – but also The Way Of Water, an adventurous and deeply thematic follow-up by Franglen himself. Now, this third entry in the Avatar franchise follows in both sets of footsteps with returning themes from both Franglen and Horner (with the former’s “Leaving Home” from The Way Of Water now playing centrally as a main theme, and the latter’s Avatar theme leaping through frequently as a thunderously heroic accompaniment) soaring atop the lusciously orchestrated sound for Pandora, with brass, vocals and strings all abound. Standout moments include the gorgeously grandiose new “The Windtraders” theme, the tensely triumphant action setpiece “Mangkwan Attack” and the confident, conclusive “The Light Always Returns”, but the entire album is positively awash with tremendous thematic interactions both old and new (orchestrated in spectacular Franglen fashion with many a Horner nod) which overall naturally gets this score very high on the Best Scores of 2025 list. Beaten only by one other, in fact.

1. The Fantastic Four: First Steps
By Michael Giacchino

“FAN-TAS-TIC-FOUR!”

Yeah, there wasn’t much arguing with this winner. Michael Giacchino’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a near perfect example of how a superhero movie should be scored, with an impeccably catchy main theme and brilliantly antithetic villain themes too. The main theme, played enthusiastically through Standout Cue “Fantastic Four To Be Reckoned With”, perfectly encapsulates the unending hope and optimism of the Four through a wonderfully retro ’60s-inspired style – complete with triumphant brass fanfare and breathtaking vocals – and against it are the equally intriguing sorrowful Silver Surfer and malevolent Galactus themes, with both leading some impeccable action setpieces (“The Light Speed Of Your Life”, “A Walk On The City”) as well as their own entertainingly dramatic and indeed Standout suite at the end of the album. The orchestral style throughout is also jaw-dropping, sounding absolutely sublime from the swirling strings to the roaring brass, and the chanting vocal work in particular is just *chef’s kiss*. Overall, the main theme alone would have won First Steps a spot on this list, but that together with the villain themes and the immense orchestral story this album tells – the Best Film Score of 2025 it certainly is.

And that’s all folks! Hope you all have happy holidays, and we’ll see you next year!